1. Technical Field
This invention relates to animal toys, and more particularly, to an animal toy that makes a sound when the toy is manipulated.
2. Background Art
It is known for animal owners and those responsible for animals to provide toys for these animals to play with. It appears that such toys provide the animal with a fun and enjoyable experience that in some ways appeal to the instinctual nature of the animal. One of the types of toy that is most common, and that is the most enjoyable for the animal, is of a construction that has an outer cover or skin, stuffed with a soft, chewable filling material and with a device enclosed that makes noise as the animal manipulates the toy.
As an animal plays with a toy of the construction as outlined above, after some amount of time the outer cover often becomes breached, and the filling material and noise making device are ripped out by the animal. Indeed, it appears that much of the enjoyment the animal experiences from the toy is derived from removing the inner components from the outer cover, which seems to be instinctual to the animal. As the filling material and/or the noise making device are removed from the outer cover of the toy, these components often make a mess that must be cleaned up by the owner or manager of the animal. Also, these components, particularly the noise making device, pose a choking hazard for the animal, and may cause harm to the animal if ingested.